Health Unit Health Disparities Report

Introduction

The District of Algoma Health Unit (DAHU) is situated in Northern Ontario, between the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and Sudbury District Health Unit. It has a total population of 114,785 and its largest city is Sault Ste. Marie, which has a population of 73,368. This region is quite diverse as it covers a large area, including 21 municipalities and numerous Aboriginal communities. As we know, health, illness, and death are not randomly distributed in a society. Rather, their incidences are closely linked to the extent of inequality in society, which can result in unequal access to fundamental social resources that are necessary for the maintenance of a good quality of life. Because of unequal access, people who differ in metrics such as income and social status, employment and working conditions, education, childhood experiences, discrimination, social supports, physical environments, healthy behaviors, access to health services, biology, gender, and culture differ in their rates of sickness and death. These variables are the social determinants of health. This report will describe the population, primary health concerns, and available health care resources in the DAHU in relation to the social determinants of health. Hopefully, the findings may give us a better understanding of the unique challenges faced by this region.

Population

According to Statistics Canada (2013) census data, the DAHU has a total population of 114,785. Among this group, the median age is 47.3 and the most populous age cohorts are 50 to 54 years, 55 to 59 years, and 60 to 64 years in decreasing order. This suggests that this community is aging and has a larger proportion of older adults compared to younger people. In terms of marital status, the DAHU has a fairly standard split between married and unmarried people at 57,515 and 41,180 respectively. However, when this data is viewed according to gender, we see that there are significantly more women who are widowed, divorced, and separated compared to men. Regarding family characteristics, lone-parent families made up 17.4% of the 34,300 families in the region. Of these lone-parent families, 13.6% of lone parents are women while 3.8% are men. In terms of culture, the DAHU is home to a high aboriginal population at 11.5% of the total population, which is two times higher than the 5.7% of aboriginals in Canada. Additionally, the data suggests that a significant 15.6% of residents, especially children and youth, live in low-income families. Finally, the majority of residents have completed high school, are employed, and have a regular health care provider. These social and demographic characteristics ultimately result in a slightly low life expectancy at birth (79 years), low perceived physical wellbeing (53%), high perceived mental wellbeing (73%), and low perceived life stress (21%) in the population.

Old Age

The DAHU is home to many older adults. Health problems affecting the elderly are of growing concern as Canada’s population ages. The elderly go to the doctor more frequently than young people and they are more likely to be hospitalized and to be prescribed medications. In addition, evidence indicates that the elderly are more likely to be given prescriptions inappropriately, which is compounded by the difficulty of managing complicated multi-drug regimens. Falls are also a major cause of hospitalization among the elderly and their probability is often increased as a side effect of medication. Furthermore, the elderly have more chronic conditions compared to younger people. All these health inequalities can be seen in the population of the DAHU. The district has high population percentages of chronic and age-related diseases such as overweightness and obesity (60%), arthritis (28.2%), diabetes (9.7%), high blood pressure (23.6%), pain or discomfort (22.5%), hospitalized stroke event rate (115/100,000), hospitalized acute myocardial infarction event rate (305/100,000), injury hospitalization (757/100,000), and cancer incidence (431.6/100,000). These diseases and conditions are all positively correlated with age.

Talk about needs

Gender In the global North, which encompasses the DAHU, women can expect to live longer than men, yet a higher percentage of their years alive involve the experience of some disability or illness. Additionally, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks and they appear to be more sensitive to stress. Women tend to be responsible for their children’s and husband’s home health care, including feeding and access to health-giving resources. This role may lead them to put their family members first and to give themselves fewer of these important sorts of capital. Because of both biological factors and lifestyle, women have more mild, transitory illnesses while men have more serious and fatal illnesses. Women’s greater attention to minor signs and symptoms and their greater willingness to take preventive actions mean that their health problems tend not to become as severe as those of men of the same age. This greater carefulness regarding health helps women extend their lives.

Aboriginal Status

The DAHU has a high percentage of Aboriginal residents. Aboriginal peoples have experienced much poorer life chances and lower life expectancy rates than non-Aboriginal Canadians. Statistically, they are more likely to die from car accidents, suicide, and injuries. Additionally, certain health and social problems are highly prevalent in the Aboriginal population. For example, Shah (2004) found that Aboriginal women are more likely to become mothers in their teens and the rates of both overweight and underweight babies are higher than those of other Canadian women. Both overweight and underweight births are associated with future health issues, including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, the rates of fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol defects are substantially higher in the Aboriginal population. Rates of smoking, substance abuse, gambling, nutritional inadequacy, overweight and obesity, and unsafe sex practices tend to also be higher in Aboriginal communities. To further exacerbate their disadvantage, the incidence of infectious diseases, diabetes, obesity, and disability are also higher among Aboriginal people than in the general population. Although the data for health conditions for the DAHU are not categorized by ethnicity, we can assume that the disease and health condition rates of the region are positively affected in some way by the high percentage of Aboriginal residents.

The negative health outcomes of Aboriginal peoples are related to inequalities in gender, age, class, education, unemployment, and impoverished living conditions. These differences in social determinants of health affect all Canadians, but they disproportionately affect Aboriginal peoples.

Low Income

A significant 15.6% of residents in the DAHU, especially children and youth, live in low-income families. Children living in poverty are more likely to experience developmental delays, and such delays often lead to a lifetime of underachievement and, consequently, the continuance of poverty from one generation to the next. They are also more likely to experience various childhood illnesses, some of which are directly related to their probable lower birth weights. Children who are marginalized in one way or another (by disability, racialization, Aboriginality, recent immigration) experience higher rates of poverty.